Just days after being cast in “Star Wars: Episode VII,” Nyong’o
has signed on to star in and produce an adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s novel “Americanah,” it was announced Thursday.

Nyong’o, along with D2 Productions,
Brad Pitt’s company Plan B and Potboiler Productions, has secured the rights to
develop the book into a feature film.

“Americanah” is the epic love story
of Ifemelu and

Obinze, young Nigerians whose romance spans continents, visas,
phone cards and breakups. The film explores the cruelties and the humor of both
the modern immigrant experience and the difficulty of finding your way home.

The acclaimed novel was the winner
of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and was selected as
one of the “Ten Best Books of the Year” by the New York Times Book Review, the
BBC, and Newsday.

“It is such an honor to have the
opportunity to bring Ms. Adichie’s brilliant book to the screen. Page after
page I was struck by Ifemelu and Obinze’s stories, whose experiences as African
immigrants are so specific and also so imminently relatable. It is a thrilling
challenge to tell a truly international story so full of love, humor and
heart,” said Nyong’o.

This summer Nyong’o begins
production on J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII” and she’ll also lend her
voice to Jon Favreau’s ”The Jungle Book.” Nyong’o is also a filmmaker, having
served as the creator, director, editor and producer of the award-winning
feature-length documentary “In My Genes,” about the treatment of Kenya’s albino
population.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the
MacArthur Fellowship-winning author of the novels “Americanah,” “Purple
Hibiscus” and “Half of a Yellow Sun,” the film adaptation of which is currently
playing in select U.S. theaters.

Sounds like Lupita and Brad Pitt are
planning a return trip to the Oscars to us. Will you be supporting the film?